PLUS New speaker for BoS Europe 2018 - How to integrate design into your business profitably, and whether your SaaS should have a pricing page

Hi {{ subscriber.First_Name }},

This week we're posing 3 questions to you:

How do you set yourself up to enjoy working in your business?

How do you integrate Design into your business profitably?

Should your SaaS have a pricing page?

Handily, we're also answering those 3 questions for you (or at least providing a qualified opinion). Read on for insight from Jason Cohen, Jane Austin, and IDR Solutions...

New #BoSTalk from Jason Cohen

"I’m using a throw away account because there’s a lot to lose from speaking how I feel. I founded a company several years ago, fast forward to today: we’re profitable, growing steadily, debt free and we’re about to be acquired. You may ask what’s the problem? The problem is I’m supremely unhappy". - A Founder in pain, Hacker News (May 2017)

This post on Hacker News stirred Jason Cohen. He recognised that feeling - he felt similarly before his company Smart Bear was acquired. Having been in that position, Jason knew how the founder in pain had got there.

To avoid feeling like the founder in pain, Jason makes 4 suggestions:

Make the emotionally tough decisions

Be an editor, not a writer

Don't neglect your own happiness

Pursue fulfillment - the intersection of joy, skill, and need

"This is not a presentation. This is a sermon." - Jason was not wrong to start the talk like this. Essential listening for entrepreneurs - here's a quote from a CEO who watched the talk last week:

"If you are like me, investing an hour to watch a talk when you should be doing something 'more important' is not done lightly. However, this talk is really brilliant - very insightful and helpful. I don't think you'll regret watching this!"

Is Design Relevant? // BoS Europe 2018

Designers and business people talk different language. Communicating well and producing effective results can feel so much more difficult than it needs to be.

To say that Jane Austin is familiar with those conversations is a vast understatement. Jane has worked in Design her whole career (including stints at Telegraph Media and Government Digital Services before her current position as Head of Design and UX at MOO), and as such has a few thoughts on how to integrate design into a business profitably.

We're thrilled to announce that Jane will be speaking at BoS Europe 2018, presenting '10 Ways To Make Design Irrelevant To Your Business'.

Is A Pricing Page Necessary for SaaS?

If I counted on my hands the number of times I've had this conversation at a BoS Conference I'd need to borrow limbs from other people. After our recent Scaling SaaS Marketing Hangout where we touched on this subject, Leon Atherton from IDR Solutions reached out with a case study.

IDR Solutions make a tool that allows PDF files and Office documents to be shown natively within a browser - a useful product for businesses handling documents online who want to provide a good user experience. They removed the pricing on that page as an experiment and replaced it with a 'Contact Us' button. While Leon wouldn't necessarily recommend this in the B2C world, the results for this B2B product speak for themselves.